IRELAND’S RESPONSE TO AFRICA’S EDUCATIONAL NEEDS · at primary level by 4.5. Problems of Education Access. Despite these positive achievements, many problems remain. The major

The Irish Journal of Education, 1 9 9 1 , xxv, p p . 5 -2 4 .

IRELAND’S RESPONSE TO AFRICA’S EDUCATIONAL NEEDS

Paud MurphyHigher Education for Development Co-operation

Dublin

An examination of educational provision in sub-Saharan Africa reveals many problems: access, low completion and achievement rates at primary level, maintaining quality while increasing access at second level, and the cost, and relevance of tertiary education. The development of Ireland’s official aid programme and current features are described. Mandatory commitments to the European Community and the World Bank take up more than half of all expenditure. Less than 10% of this goes to education and training. Bilateral aid is concentrated on Africa and education and training activities account for more than 40% of expenditure in recent years. An examination of the education projects funded between 1980 and 1990 reveals that most are located in third-level institutions and none has supported primary education.

The education sector in sub-Saharan Africa is facing severe problems. At all levels, the quality of the education being provided in schools and colleges is regarded by many as unsatisfactory. At the same time, too many children and young people have no access to education of any kind. The Irish aid programme appears to recognise these problems and to be willing to assist. In a speech in 1990, the Minister of State with special responsibility for Irish aid said: ‘Our assistance is focused on priority sectors, in particular rural development and education’ (Ireland: Department of Foreign Affairs, 1990, p.9). The annual report on Irish aid in 1986 gave reasons for this:

the provision to developing countries of assistance in the field of Education and Training is a major objective .... This reflects both the importance of this sector for developing countries and the expertise and experience which Irish personnel and institutions have to offer (Ireland: Department of Foreign Affairs, 1986, p.32).

This paper examines how the Irish aid programme assists the education sector in sub-Saharan Africa. The problems facing the sector are first examined. The Irish aid programme is then described and some recent developments explained. Following that, an analysis of the expenditure from the aid programme is presented. Finally, some conclusions are drawn and recommendations made.

6 P A U D M U R P H Y

Data in the paper normally refer to 39 countries south of the Sahara desert. The Republic of South Africa and Namibia are excluded. Also excluded are six countries with populations of less than half a million: Cape Verde, Comoros, Djibouti, Equitorial Guinea, Sao Tomé and Principe, and the Seychelles.

Achievements of EducationIn the past twenty-five years, a number of important achievements have

marked the development of education in sub-Saharan Africa. There have been qualitative improvements

in terms of the range of educational services offered, the localisation of cadres of educational personnel, the rise in qualifications of teachers on average, the unification of the previously fragmented educational systems, the enhanced educational opportunities for females (Williams, 1986, p.92).

There have also been achievements in localization of syllabi in many countries. By the late 1970s, locally-developed texts and the vernacular were being used to begin instruction in more than half the countries (Hawes, 1979). As Table 1

TABLE 1

SCHOOL ENROLMENTS AND ENROLMENT RATIOS IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA,1960 AND 1986

E D U C A T IO N IN S U B - S A H A R A N A F R IC A

Level Numbers Enrolled

1960 1986

Primary EducationEnrolments (thousands) 11,700 53,341Gross Enrolment Ratio (percent) 36 70

Secondary EducationEnrolments (thousands 800 13,671Gross Enrolment Ratio (percent) 3 23

Higher EducationEnrolments (thousands) 22 673Gross Enrolment Ratio (percent) 0.2 1.8

TOTAL ENROLMENTS (thousands) 12,500 67,685

Source: World Bank, 1990a

I R E L A N D ’S R E S P O N S E T O A F R IC A ’S E D U C A T IO N A L N E E D S 7

shows, dramatic changes have occurred in the absolute numbers who have access to education at all levels. Between I960 and 1986, the number of students enrolled at third level had increased by a factor of 31; at second-level by 17; and at primary level by 4.5.Problems of Education Access. Despite these positive achievements, many problems remain. The major one is access, which extends to all levels of schooling. Over a quarter of all children do not get any primary education; the percentages of the appropriate age ranges participating at higher levels are very much lower. Girls fare worse than boys: in 19 of the 45 countries across sub-Saharan Africa, girls number less than 40% of the children in primary schools (World Bank 1990a, pp. 16, 17). Similarly, rural children do not have the same access as urban children. For example, enrolment ratios in urban centres in the 1980s were 30% above those in rural areas in Cote d’Ivoire (World Bank, 1988). In Ethiopia, Addis Ababa had enrolment ratios of 90%, 89% and 50% in primary, secondary, and tertiary education respectively, while the rural Hararge region had only 24.1%, 9.1% and 3.9% respectively (Ethiopia: Ministry of Education, 1987).Primary Education. None of the statistics about primary education in Africa can prepare the visitor for his or her first impressions. A primary school in Lesotho is described as follows:

The teacher has insisted that I sit in her chair - the only one in the room. There are eighty-three children of varying ages sitting on the floor. Thirteen of them have a copy of an English reader, bought by their parents. The teacher has a copy. Seventy children have no book. The teacher, untrained, has written three sentences containing two English mistakes on the board. Very few children in the room can read them or the text in the book. Yet these children attend school six hours a day, 190 days a year in similar conditions (Hawes, 1979, p.4).

This scene, which is replicated across the region, portrays the problems perfectly in microcosm. The problems are recognized by politicians and educators in Africa and by the World Bank (Williams, 1986; World Bank, 1988). According to the World Bank (1990b) policy paper on primary education, ‘the most visible signs of ineffective primary education systems are low primary completion rates and low student achievement’ (p. 11). An examination of teacher training and education levels in seven African countries, for example, showed that teachers who had both completed secondary school and received teacher training were in a minority in all but one country, and in every country the number of untrained teachers was unacceptably high (Hawes, 1979). Nor are teachers well deployed; although the pupil-teacher ratio across Africa is on


average 39:1, this hides huge regional differences within and between countries. In Malawi, for example, the ratio is 74:1 in Lilongwe rural district, while in Mzuzu city it is 48:1 (Malawi: Ministry of Education and Culture, 1985). In the Central African Republic, the ratio is 69:1 and in Mauritius it is 23:1 (World Bank, 1988). An examination of the amount being spent on educational materials is also instructive.

Educational materials account for just 1.1% of the recurrent primary budget in the median African country .... This allocation amounts to less than $0.80 per pupil per year which buys very little in the way of books, slates, wall charts and writing instruments (World Bank, 1988, p.31).

Secondary Education. The European visitor to a typical secondary school in sub-Saharan Africa finds a familiar situation. While buildings are not likely to be as well maintained, libraries not as well stocked, laboratories not as well equipped, and teachers not quite as well qualified, there are still many similarities to schools in Europe: many teachers are graduates and they will be teaching familiar subjects in a familiar language to recognizable levels. Examinations at the end of courses may even be set in Europe. Overall, the quality of the education being provided in many second-level schools in sub-Saharan Africa is relatively good.

The real problem facing policy-makers and planners in Africa is how to increase access to secondary education while maintaining standards. Almost 80% of the age range do not participate in second-level education at present and, while the percentage of those completing primary school and not going on to secondary school is much lower at 57%, the numbers completing primary school go up each year (World Bank, 1988). In Zambia in 1986, for example, an estimated 135,000 students left school having completed their primary education, and it is estimated that the numbers completing primary school will rise to 250,000 by the year 2000 (Kelly, 1986).

A number of countries have expanded access to secondary education very rapidly. For example, Lesotho’s enrolment of 17,732 students in 1978 increased to 33,564 in 1984 (Lesotho: Ministry of Education, 1988). The numbers in secondary school in Zimbabwe increased from 74,966 in 1980 to 645,792 in 1987 (personal communication from Ministry of Education). Apart from the increase in government expenditure on education and the strains which such increases in numbers produce, there is some evidence that standards are falling in the two countries. Results in the Cambridge O-level examinations in Zimbabwe, for example, have been declining: the percentage pass rate declined for every subject except Ndebele (Zimbabwe: Ministry of Education, 1987). In Lesotho, the percentage of the intake into senior secondary school who passed


the Cambridge Overseas School Certificate two years later has declined each year and the absolute number of students getting a first or second class pass did not increase between 1978 and 1984 (Lesotho: Ministry of Education, 1988).

This leads to a separate but related problem: the low numbers of students taking mathematics and science and the levels of their achievement. A number of countries in southern Africa have not been producing a sufficient number of students qualified in mathematics and science to fill the places available in third-level institutions. Zambia, Lesotho, Swaziland, and Botswana have all established special programmes to upgrade students in mathematics and science and prepare them for third-level courses.Tertiary Education. While access is a very serious problem at tertiary level, with less than 2% of an age range participating, there are many other problems. These include the frequent closure of universities, the poor quality of the education being provided, the management of the institutions, the paucity of the resources devoted to expenditure on items such as library, science equipment, and teaching materials, the inadequacy of the salaries paid to lecturing staff, the poor quality of the science and technology courses, the pre-occupation with providing non-teaching services to students, the production of graduates who cannot find employment, and the difficulties of recruiting well-qualified students into science and technology courses. Many of these problems are caused by inadequate resources, and yet many of the third-level institutions in Africa already cost too much to run. A World Bank (1988) study of cost disparities in the low-income countries of Africa shows that tertiary institutions took up, on average, 19% of the education budget in 19831. The cost to government of each tertiary student was, on average, 60 times the cost of each primary-school student, compared to four times in Ireland and a factor of three in most industrialized countries. Put another way, each student cost ten times the GNP per capita in the low-income African countries in 1983 compared to 0.6 times in Ireland. As Hinchliffe (1987) puts it:

High shares of education expenditure relative to enrolments suggest that the unit costs of higher education are large in relation to those for other

1 The World Bank classifies countries as low-income if they have per capita incomes of less than $400. In sub-Saharan Africa, 25 countries were so classified in 1984. The remaining 14 countries with populations greater than half a million were classified as middle income. Their per capita incomes ranged from $450 in Mauritania to $4100 in Gabon in 1984.


levels of education. In many African countries they are also large in absolute terms compared to countries in most other regions of the world. Further, since per capita incomes in the region are among the lowest in the world, the cost of higher education in Africa is particularly high in relation to overall domestic resources (pp. 31-32).

Population and BudgetsThe most obvious way to address the problems of access and low quality

might seem to be to increase the level of government resources being devoted to education. Two important factors militate against this, however. The first is the growth of population in sub-Saharan Africa and the second is the level of economic growth.

TABLE 2

POPULATION GROWTH AND PROJECTIONS, SELECTED AREAS

Average annual growth of population (%)

1973-1984 1980-2000

All low income economies 2.0 1.8- sub-Saharan Africa 2.9 3.1

All middle income economies 2.4 2.1- sub-Saharan Africa 3.0 3.3

Industrial market economies 0.7 0.5Ireland 1.3 1.0

Note: Data for 35 countries in sub-Saharan Africa with populations greater than one million in 1984. Source:Adapted from World Bank, 1986a, pp.228, 229.

Population of Sub-Saharan Africa. At present, as Table 2 shows, the population of sub-Saharan Africa is growing at a very high rate and the growth rate is itself increasing. It is estimated that the population of sub-Saharan Africa, which was 385 million in 1982, will almost double by the year 2000 and more than redouble by 2020 if present rates of growth continue (World Bank, 1984).Population Growth and Education. Population growth obviously has significant implications for the size of the school-going population. A major study by the World Bank (1988) estimates that the 51.3 million primary-school places and the 11.1 million secondary-school places in sub-Saharan Africa in 1983 would have to reach 90.7 million and 19.7 million respectively in the year 2000 just to


maintain participation rates at 1983 levels. The provision of universal primary education would require 131.8 million places by the year 2000.Government Spending on Education. If governments continue to provide the same level of resources for each student in primary and secondary education, then increases of 3% annually will be required in funding simply to maintain present participation rates. Any increases in participation rates will require either greater increases in resources or reductions in the level of spending per student. Government revenues, and consequently the ability to spend on services such as education, are dependent on economic growth.Economic Growth and Government Revenue. The first five years of the 1980s have seen growth rates averaging only 1.1% in the Gross Domestic Product of the low-income economies of sub-Saharan Africa and 1.3% in the middle-income economies (World Bank, 1986). These rates are much lower than the rates of growth of population (see Table 2) and imply that if the total product of the economy were shared out equally, each individual would be a little less well-off year by year in the 1980s.

Most of the governments of sub-Saharan Africa devote a high proportion of their revenue to education. Expenditure on education averaged 15.9% of total government expenditure for the low-income economies and 17.2% for the middle-income economies in 1983 (World Bank, 1986). Despite the high priority accorded to education, the total expenditure at constant prices actually declined between 1980 and 1983.

Both rapidly increasing populations and slow economic growth rates affect the amounts that governments can spend on educational services. For the foreseeable future, it would appear that the amounts which governments spend may increase but, at best, will only increase in line with student numbers so that there will be no increase in the amount spent per student.

THE IRISH AID PROGRAMME2

Until 1955, when Ireland joined the United Nations, almost the only substantial Irish involvement with developing countries was that of the missionaries. An estimated 4,500 were still working overseas in 1990, 2,030 on development. However, it is from January 1973, when Ireland joined the European Economic Community and began to contribute to the Community’s

2 This section is taken mainly from Grindle & Murphy (1991).

12 PAUD MURPHY

aid program m e, that Ireland’s o ffic ia l aid program m e really dates. From 1973

to 1986 , there w as sig n ifica n t grow th in the program m e.In 1974 , an A g e n c y for Personal S erv ice O verseas (A P S O ) w as estab lish ed

for ‘the prom otion o f tem porary personal serv ice in the d ev e lo p in g countries o f the w orld for their e co n o m ic and so c ia l d ev e lo p m en t by persons from Ireland in the interests o f ju s tic e and peace am ong n ation s’ (A P S O , 1974 , p .5 ). In the sam e year, an o ffic ia l bilateral aid program m e w as estab lished to be adm inistered by the D epartm ent o f F oreign A ffa irs . B ilateral a ssistan ce is provided by Ireland d irectly . M ultilateral a ss istan ce is provided through b o d ies such as the E uropean C om m u n ity , the U n ited N atio n s , and the W orld B ank.

T here w as a strong sectoral response to th ese govern m en ta l in itia tives. T he

Irish state b o d ies estab lish ed an um brella body ca lled D E V C O in 1974; in 1975 , the Irish un iversities and so m e other c o lle g e s form ed their o w n um brella body, H E D C O , to prom ote and co -ord in ate their contribution to d ev e lo p in g countries; and 17 non -governm enta l organ izations, m ost o f w h om had already b een activ e

in d ev e lo p in g countries, form ed an um brella group w h ich ca m e to be k n ow n as C O N G O O D .

In 1979 , the govern m en t estab lish ed the A d v iso ry C ou n cil on D ev e lo p m en t C o-op eration to a d v ise the M in ister for F oreign A ffa irs on all a sp ects o f the Irish aid program m e. T w o years later, the govern m en t g a v e a clear co m m itm en t to a ch iev in g the U n ited N a tion s target o f d ev o tin g 0.1% o f G N P to O D A (O ffic ia l D e v e lo p m e n t A s s is t a n c e ) and th e f ir s t m in is te r o f s ta te w ith s p e c ia l resp on sib ility for aid w as appointed . In 1982 , an all-party O ireachtas Joint C om m ittee on C o-op eration w ith D e v e lo p in g C ountries w as estab lish ed . T his provided a forum w herein m em bers o f the D a il and Seanad co u ld co n sid er Ireland’s rela tion s w ith d e v e lo p in g cou n tr ies in the f ie ld o f d ev e lo p m en t c o -o p e r a t io n and th e g o v e r n m e n t’ s o f f ic ia l d e v e lo p m e n t a s s is ta n c e to d ev e lo p in g countries.

F iv e countries w ere identified as priority recip ien ts for bilateral aid: India, L eso th o , Sudan, T anzania, and Z am bia. H o w ev er , w h ile in theory India rem ains,

in p r a c tic e th ere h a v e b een o n ly fo u r p riority c o u n tr ie s . D e v e lo p m e n t C o-op eration O ffic es , each headed by an o fficer o f the D epartm ent o f F oreign A ffa irs , w ere estab lish ed in L eso th o (1 9 7 8 ) , T anzania (1 9 7 9 ) Z am bia (1 9 8 0 ) , and the Sudan (1 9 8 6 ).

T he support for O D A by su cceed in g govern m en ts resulted in an increase in

assistan ce b etw een 1974 and 1979, both in real term s and as a percentage o f G N P . B e tw een 1981 and 1986 , O D A again increased in real term s and as a share o f G N P . T ab le 3 p rovides in form ation on the a lloca tion in se lec ted years.

IRELAND’S RESPONSE TO AFRICA’S EDUCATIONAL NEEDS 13

S in ce 1986 , the O D A program m e has been in d ec lin e . T h e D e v e lo p m en t C o-op eration O ff ic e in the Sudan w as c lo sed in 1987 . T he all-party O ireachtas jo in t com m ittee w as not re-appointed fo llo w in g a ch a n g e o f govern m en t in 1987. In 1991, the A d v iso ry C ou n cil on D ev e lo p m en t C o-op eration w as abolish ed . T h e O D A alloca tion as a share o f G N P w as stead ily cut back from 0.25% in 1 986 to 0 .18% in 1991 (se e T ab le 3).

TABLE 3

IRELAND’S AID, SELECTED YEARS 1976-1991 (IRISH POUNDS MLN)

1976 1981 1986 1991

MultilateralEC 1.3 7.5 12.6 18.1World Bank/UN 2.1 3.3 6.8 6.8

Multilateral Total 4.0 12.3 21.7 25.9% of total ODA 85% 65% 54% 59%

Bilateral:Bilateral Fund 0.4 5.1 14.8 10.2APSO 0.2 1.0 2.4 2.4Disaster Relief 0.1 0.4 0.8 1.0Other - - 0.2 3.3*

Bilateral Total 0.7 6.5 18.2 16.9% of total 15% 35% 45% 39%

Dept Admin - - 0.6 0.8

Grand Total 4.6 18.8 40.5 43.6% of GNP 0.10% 0.18% 0.25% 0.18%

* IR £ 3 .2 5 m fo o d aid for countries a ffected by G u lf crisis.Source: Grindle & Murphy (1991) and discussions with Chief Executive, APSO.

On the multilateral side, the m ain cuts have been in the ‘voluntary’ allocations to the U N a g en c ies, e sp ec ia lly to the U n ited N a tion s D ev e lo p m en t Fund. Contributions to the W orld B ank and the EC developm ent budgets are mandatory and the s ize o f Ireland’s contribution is not decided by Ireland alone. In 1991, these

mandatory com m itm ents took up 96% o f multilateral assistance leaving very little room for further cuts. A s the budget declined overall, so the mandatory com m itm ents

14 PAUD MURPHY

took up an increasing share and bilateral assistance declined. W hen the o n ce -o ff allocation in 1991 to countries affected by the G u lf crisis is excluded , bilateral aid, over w hich Ireland exercises direct control, has decreased each year since 1987, both as a percentage o f G N P and as a proportion o f total Irish O D A (see Figure 1).

O n the bilateral side, the largest cut fe ll on the N G O (non -govern m en ta l

organ iza tion ) co -fin a n c in g sch em e, w h ich w as reduced from £ 2 .5 7 m illio n in 19 8 6 to £ 0 .5 m illio n in 1990. A P S O ’s grant-in-aid rem ained a lm ost the sam e in cash terms over the period 1986 to 1991, m eaning that there w as a significant reduction in real terms. A num ber o f other agencies involved in the bilateral aid program m e also suffered; for exam ple, H E D C O ’s grant for adm inistration w as

term inated in 1989.

FIGURE 1

IRELAND’S ODA AS % GNP, MULTILATERAL AND BILATERAL, 1936-1991*

0.2S

♦Excludes once-off Gulf allocation

A m ajor study o f Irish aid c o m m issio n ed by the (n o w defun ct) A d v iso ry C o u n cil on D ev elo p m en t C o-op eration found that there w as no clear statem ent

o f the p h ilo so p h y o f Irish aid or o f the p o lic ie s underlying the Irish aid program m e, but identified a num ber o f prim ary m otivations: hum anitarian concern , en ligh ten ed self-in terest, and foreign p o licy . A num ber o f basic p o licy p rincip les can be inferred from sp eech es and reports: concen trating on a lim ited


num ber o f countries in A frica , targeting the poor, encourag in g se lf-re lia n ce , co-op eratin g w ith partner countries, no ty ing o f aid to the purchase o f Irish g o o d s and serv ices , and usin g Irish p eo p le to provide tech nica l a ss istan ce (G rind le & M urphy, 1991).

IRISH AID TO EDUCATION

Education and Multilateral AssistanceM ultilateral a ss istan ce is m ain ly d isp en sed through the EC (36% o f all Irish

O D A in the period 1981 to 1 990) and the W orld B ank group (11% o f all aid in the sam e period). For non-m andatory contributions, the m ain rec ip ien ts are the U n ited N a tio n s D e v e lo p m e n t P rogram m e (U N D P ), the C h ild re n ’s F und (U N IC E F ), the H igh C o m m iss io n for R efu g ees (U N H C R ), and the R e lie f and W orks A g en cy (U N R W A ). O f the fun ds provided for m ultilateral assistan ce, a relatively sm all proportion is lik e ly to be used for education . T he largest recip ien t

is the E C but o n ly 6.8% o f the third L o m é agreem en t3 w as a lloca ted to education (A m at A rm en go l & D u b o is , 1990). T h is share is lik e ly to h ave been reduced rather than increased in recent years as the m ain thrust o f the E C program m es has been on rural d ev e lo p m en t. W h ile the W orld B ank is d ev o tin g increased resources to education (at the W orld C o n feren ce on E du cation for A ll he ld in Jom tien , T hailand in 1 990 , it co m m itted itse lf to d o u b lin g its len d ing to education ), it w ill a lloca te o n ly about 6% o f its resources to education len d ing in d ev e lo p in g countries in the period 1 9 9 1 -9 4 (W orld B ank, 1991). It sh ould be noted that Ireland has very little say in h o w the W orld B ank a llo ca tes its resources, and, w h ile it participates in the d ec is io n s about EC a llo ca tio n s, its in flu en ce is lim ited .

O f the U N a g en c ie s , U N IC E F is increasing its support for education . N o n e o f the other U N a g en c ies w h ich ge t support from the Irish O D A concen trates on education . T he m ajor U N educational a g en cy , U N E S C O , g e ts no support directly from Irish O D A . H o w ev er , Ireland is a m em ber o f U N E S C O and so m e o f the m em bersh ip fee , paid through the D epartm ent o f E ducation , is a llo w ed as part o f Ireland’s O D A . T h is am ounted to £ 1 9 ,0 0 0 in 1990 .

3 The main development co-operation budget o f the EC is the European Development Fund and the best known agreement is the so-called Lomé agreement with 69 African, Caribbean, and Pacific states.

16 PAUD MURPHY

Education and Bilateral AssistanceT h e three m ain sou rces o f funds for bilateral a ssistan ce are the B ilateral A id

Fund, adm inistered by the D ev e lo p m en t C o-op eration D iv is io n (D C D ) o f the

D epartm ent o f F oreign A ffa irs , the grant-in-aid for A P S O , and disaster relief. T h ese took 75% , 18% , and 7% resp ectiv e ly o f bilateral aid in 1991 (w h en the o n c e -o ff a lloca tion to countries a ffected by the G u lf crisis is ex c lu d ed ). A s the nam e im p lies, d isaster r e lie f funds are not devoted to education or training. B oth A P S O and the B ilateral A id Fund concentrate on sub-Saharan A fr ica and each d ev o te s a s ig n ifican t share o f resources to education and training a ctiv ities.

A P S O supports Irish a ss ig n ees in d ev e lo p in g countries, d irectly sp onsoring people or co-financing assignees with voluntary agencies. M ost o f its a ssign m en ts

- 80% in 1989 - are in sub-Saharan A frica . O ver the period 1 9 8 1 -1 9 9 0 , 40% o f the total o f the annual a ssign m en ts w ere for education (se e T able 4 ).

T he a ss ig n ee s are m ain ly secondary teachers. In 1986 , 80% o f the 2 3 7 a ssign m en ts in education w ere secondary teachers. A P S O has large secondary teach ers’ program m es in Z im b ab w e, L eso th o , and the Sudan and it su p p lies teachers to other countries. (From late 1990 the G u lf crisis and the d ifficu lt politica l situation in the Sudan caused the su sp en sion o f support for teachers.)

TABLE 4

APSO TOTAL ASSIGNEES AND EDUCATION ASSIGNEES, 1981-1990

Year 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990

Total Assignees 251 270 387 440 482 464 455 435 451 395

Education Assignees 78 82 143 195 219 237 196 175 155 149

Education as % of Total 31 30 37 44 45 51 43 40 34 38

Note: The total number of assignees over the period is not the sum of the numbers for each year as people are normally assigned for more than one year.Source: APSO annual reports.

The Bilateral Aid FundA llocations from the Bilateral Fund in the period 1981 to 1991 w ere m ainly for

projects in develop in g countries. T w o activities in Ireland, Education/training and D evelop m en t Education, take up m ore than one-third o f the rem aining funds.

Education in Ireland. E ducation /train ing in Ireland has three com ponents: fe llo w sh ip s for p eo p le from d ev e lo p in g countries in Irish th ird -level institu tion s or for training a c tiv ities in public enterprises; grants to three sp ecia l cou rses in


Ireland (a graduate cou rse in E ng in eerin g H y d ro lo g y in U n iversity C o lleg e

G a lw a y , a graduate in form atics cou rse in T rinity C o lle g e D u blin , and an undergraduate and graduate D ip lo m a in D ev e lo p m en t S tu d ies in K im m age M anor); and grants to organ izations con cerned w ith education (H E D C O up to 1988 and the Irish C ou n cil for O verseas Students w h ich co n tin u es to g e t a grant).

TABLE 5

IRELAND’S BILATERAL AID FUND (POUNDS MLN)

1981 1986 1991 Est

Priority Countries:Tanzania 0.5 1.7 2.3Lesotho 1.7 2.7 2.1Zambia 0.4 1.9 2.0Sudan 0.8 1.5 0.6

Sub-total 3.4 7.8 7.0% of total 65% 53% 66%

Other Projects:Partner countries 0.2 0.7 0.3SADCC - 0.3 0.2

Total Projects 3.6 8.8 7.5% of total 70% 59% 71%

Through Multilaterals:Co-Financing 0.2 0.7 0.4Int. Research - 0.5 0.2Gulf Food Aid - - 0.3Sub-total 0.2 1.2 0.9

Through NGOs:Co-Financing 0.5 2.6 0.7

Activities in Ireland:Education/Training 0.8 1.6 0.9Development Education 0.1 0.5 0.4Evaluation/Misc - 0.1 0.2Sub-total 0.9 2.2 1.5

Total 5.2 14.8 10.6*

*1991 allocation plus funds carried forward from 1990. Source: Grindle & Murphy, 1991.

18 PAUD MURPHY

Development Education co v ers support for co u rses and in itia tives w h ich educate Irish p eo p le about d ev e lo p m en t and d ev e lo p in g countries. T h is inc lu des support for the D ev e lo p m en t E ducation Support Centre (D E S C ), located in St P atrick’s C o lleg e in D u blin , and an o ff ic e in M ary Im m aculate C o lle g e o f T e a ch er E d u ca tio n , L im er ick , w h ic h su p p o rts a g e n c ie s and in d iv id u a ls p rovid ing D ev e lo p m en t E ducation . O ther d ev e lo p m en t education a c tiv ities are supported from a sp ec ia l fund contro lled by a national co m m ittee .

Education/Training in Developing CountriesS ev e n ty -o n e percent o f expend iture from the B ilateral A id Fund in 1991 w as

for d irectly -fu nd ed projects, a lm ost all located in A frica , m ain ly in the four priority countries, L eso th o , Z am bia, T anzania, and the Sudan. A n an a ly sis o f the sectors rece iv in g project support is provided in T ab le 6.

TABLE 6

PERCENTAGES OF EXPENDITURE ON OVERSEAS PROJECTS BY SECTOR,1981, 1986, 1991

1981 1986 1991

Agriculture 41% 25% 10%

Education/T raining 17% 25% 34%

Basic Needs Provision 3% 21% 23%

Institutional Support 32% 20% 26%

Miscellaneous 7% 9% 7%

Source: Grindle & Murphy, 1991.

S in c e 1 9 8 6 , E d u c a tio n /tr a in in g has r e c e iv e d a la rg er sh a re o f Ir ish expenditure than any other sector. T h is is unusual am ong O E C D donors: the

average across the D A C (D ev e lo p m en t A ssista n ce C om m ittees) o f the countries o f the O E C D in 1989 w as h a lf o f the Irish a llocation .

A part from th ese d irec tly -fu n d ed projects in d e v e lo p in g co u n tr ies , the B ilateral A id Fund a lso c o -fin a n ces projects w ith the N G O s. In 1986 , £ 2 ,5 7 0 ,0 0 0 w as provided in this w ay. In 1991, p rovision had dropped to £ 7 0 0 ,0 0 0 . A n

an a lysis over the ten-year period from 1981 to 1990 ind icates that 37% o f the am ount provided by the D epartm ent o f F oreign A ffa irs for th ese projects w as for education or training activ ities.


T able 7 brings together the various education /train ing expend itures from the B ilateral A id F und. A s the table sh o w s, a m ajor, and increasin g , share o f Ireland’s

total bilateral a ssistan ce is d ev o ted to education and training.

TABLE 7

EDUCATION AND TRAINING AS A SHARE OF TOTAL BILATERAL AID FUND, 1981-1990, MILLIONS OF IRISH POUNDS (1991 PRICES)

Year 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990

Education/training Projects Abroad 0.63 1.24 1.48 1.65 2.02 2.26 2.71 3.19 3.00 2.79

NGO Education/training Projects 0.12 0.24 0.42 0.52 0.62 0.86 0.49 0.19 0.13 0.20

Education in Ireland 0.73 0.94 1.09 1.27 1.49 2.12 1.60 1.28 0.95 0.98

Total Education/training 1.48 2.42 2.99 3.44 4.13 5.24 4.80 4.66 4.08 3.97

Bilateral Aid Fund 5.10 7.10 8.50 9.70 11.9 14.8 13.9 10.3 9.40 9.1

Education/training as % BAF 29 34 35 35 35 35 35 45 43 44

Source: ODA reports

Education or TrainingA p p en d ix 1 lists th ose education and training projects on w h ich funding

e x ceed ed a quarter o f a m illio n pounds over the ten-year period 1 9 8 1 -1 9 9 0 . It is extrem ely d ifficu lt to ca tegorize projects as education projects or as training projects. D esp ite the d ifficu lty , a ca tegorization has been attem pted, d efin in g projects as ‘ed u ca tio n ’ i f they are based in an institution for w h ich a M in istry o f E ducation is resp on sib le and ‘train ing’ i f they are the resp on sib ility o f so m e other m in istry (s e e K ella g h a n & L e w is , 1 9 9 1 ) . T h u s, th e m e d ica l laboratory tech n icians training program m e in L eso th o is c la ss if ied as education s in ce the project w as located in the L erotholi P o ly tech n ic , an institution o f the M in istry o f E ducation , w h ile support for M ikum i trade sch o o l in T anzania is c la ss if ie d as

training, s in ce the sch o o l is under the M in istry o f Trade. T h is very rough

a llocation y ie ld s a 58% share o f expenditure for education over the past ten years. A sim ilar ana lysis o f N G O projects sh o w s that 76% o f the expend iture w as for education . T he rem ain ing 24% w as ex p en d ed on training activ ities.

20 PAUD MURPHY

Support fo r Levels o f EducationA n exam in ation o f the education projects funded over the ten-year period ,

1 9 8 1 -1 9 9 0 , sh o w s that non e a im s at supporting prim ary education , o n e a im s

directly at supporting secondary education , and another a im s at training tech n ica l teachers for secondary sch o o ls . W ith the ex cep tio n o f the seco n d a ry -sch o o l support project in L eso th o , all the projects are loca ted in the tertiary sector. H o w ev er , d esp ite their location , they are not necessarily a im ed at supporting the education sector. W ith the e x cep tio n o f the tech n ica l teachers project in L eso th o , all the projects aim at producing p eo p le for sectors other than education . T he

largest project, for ex am p le, is aim ed at re liev in g the shortage o f accountants

and other b u sin ess cadres in Z am bia. P rojects in the U n iversity o f Z am bia h ave been a im ed at producing veterinarians and eco n o m ists . In T anzania , education p r o je c ts are a im e d at p r o d u c in g a g r ic u ltu r e e x te n s io n s p e c ia l i s t s and accountants. In the Sudan, o n e o f the tw o education projects w as a im ed at produ cin g anim al production sp ecia lists . T he other supported the library o f K hartoum P o ly tech n ic . T he on ly project in T anzania a im ed d irectly at the education sector provided m od est general support (m ain ly for libraries and laboratories) for the tw o u n iversities and this w as term inated in 1987 w h en fun d in g b ecam e scarce.

Dual-purpose ProjectsA thread running through the education projects is that m any o f them serve

tw o purposes. O ne co m m o n purpose is to stengthen the institu tion in w h ich the project is based . T he other purpose is to provide sk illed p eo p le or to prov id e a serv ice to the com m u n ity . O ne ex a m p le is B u s in ess S tu d ies in Z am bia. T he project is d esig n ed to strengthen the capacity o f E v e ly n H on e C o lle g e to run co u rses it se lf but is ju stified by its production o f scarce b u sin ess stu d ies graduates for the eco n o m y . A seco n d exa m p le is the support for S o k o in e U n iv ersity o f A gricu lture in T anzania. Support is provided to strengthen its C entre for C on tin u ing E ducation but the project is ju stified by the C en tre’s w ork to retrain agricultural ex ten sio n w orkers.

In the a b sen ce o f p o licy g u id e lin es , it is d ifficu lt to ascertain the reasons w h y th ese projects w ere ch o sen . H o w ev er , the fact that there are so fe w projects w h ich

are a im ed d irectly at supporting the education sector in d icates that it is not the sector itse lf that attracts Irish support but, rather, particular products o f the sector. T hu s, projects aim ed at provid ing m od est general support for a un iversity w ere term inated as funds d ecreased , w h ile projects w h ich w ere based in a un iversity but a im ed at supporting sectors ou tsid e education con tin u ed to be supported.


Organization o f Aid to EducationA s w e h a v e se e n , the g o v e r n m e n t d ep a r tm en t r e s p o n s ib le fo r Irish

d ev e lo p m en t aid is the D epartm ent o f F oreign A ffa irs and a g o o d share o f its fun ds g o to education and training projects. T he D epartm ent d o es not c la im any educational exp ertise itse lf and seek s assistan ce from a range o f ind iv idu als and

institu tions to identify , a ssess , and m anage educational projects. T he o n ly Irish institution w h ich w as estab lished sp ec if ica lly to provide support for education in d e v e lo p in g countr ies is H E D C O - H igh er E du cation for D e v e lo p m en t C o-op eration - w h ich w as set up by th ird-level c o lle g e s in Ireland in 1975 to prom ote and co-ord in ate their w ork in d e v e lo p in g countries. H E D C O in itia lly

received its adm inistration fun d ing from the D epartm ent o f F oreign A ffa irs and A P S O and from 1985 , fo llo w in g the recom m en dations o f a rev iew co m m ittee , from the D epartm ent o f F oreign A ffa irs on ly . H E D C O ’s w ork has m ain ly in v o lv e d stren g th en in g in stitu tion s o f th ird -leve l ed u cation in d e v e lo p in g countries. H o w ever , it has a lso m anaged projects supporting other lev e ls o f

education as w e ll as o u tsid e the education sector. It w as d ec id ed in 1988 to term inate the grant to H E D C O for adm inistration and, from 1 989 , H E D C O has

received no grant. It n ow earns in co m e from the m anagem en t o f projects on b eh a lf o f the D epartm ent o f F oreign A ffa irs , the E uropean C o m m iss io n , and the W orld B ank.

E ight o f the Irish projects in the education sector and o n e training project w ere m anaged by H E D C O in 1990. T hree education projects w ere m anaged d irectly

by the D epartm ent o f F oreign A ffa irs w ith technical con su ltan cy from the D u blin Institute o f T e c h n o lo g y ’s K evin Street C o lleg e , U n iversity C o lle g e G a lw a y ’s D epartm ent o f E ngin eering H yd ro lo g y , and the D epartm ent o f E ducation . O f the three rem aining training projects, tw o w ere m anaged by the Institute o f P ublic A dm in istration and F A S and the third w as m anaged d irectly by the D epartm ent o f F oreign A ffa irs w ith tech nica l con su ltan cy from an ind ividual.

CONCLUSION

T his paper se t ou t to ex a m in e h o w Ireland w a s a ssistin g sub-Saharan A fr ica to so lv e so m e o f its educational problem s. T w o m ajor co n c lu sio n s em erge. First, education and training are im portant co m p o n en ts o f the Irish bilateral aid

program m e. S eco n d ly , the em p h asis in Irish education /train ing d irectly -fu nd ed projects is on u sin g the education sector to strengthen other area o f the e co n o m ie s

o f b eneficiary countries rather than on the strengthening o f the education sector itse lf. On the other hand, A P S O d o es concentrate on supporting the education

sector, particularly secondary education . T h e teach ers’ program m es, run by

22 PAUD MURPHY

A P S O in a num ber o f countries, are im portant providers o f scarce secondary teachers.

I f greater em p h asis w ere to be put on d irect a ssistan ce to the education sector in su b-S aharan A fr ica , w id e -r a n g in g discussion w o u ld b e u sefu l on the a ssista n ce that Ireland sh ould provide. C learly , there are m any n eed s in the sector at all lev e ls and the d iscu ssio n w ou ld need to fo cu s on priorities. H o w ev er , a num ber o f issu es w ou ld a lso have to be reso lved . For exa m p le , w h ich sh ou ld be

g iv en priority, the needs in A fr ica or the Irish strengths? Sh ou ld Ireland provide b u ild in gs or p eop le? M o st purists w ou ld argue that the n eed s in the d ev e lo p in g c o u n tr ie s m u st ta k e p r io r ity . H o w e v e r , th is ig n o r e s th e im p o rta n ce o f m aintain ing support for an aid program m e in Ireland. W here the c h o ic e is b etw een bu ild in g c la ssro o m s or su p p ly in g sk illed p eo p le , it co u ld be argued that

Ireland’s lim ited aid funds w ou ld not buy m any c la ssro o m s but that it cou ld p rovide so m e o f its ow n surplus o f sk illed p eo p le to a ss is t in d ev e lo p in g

co u n tr ies . H o w e v er , the p ro v isio n o f h ig h ly paid (re la tiv e to in d ig en o u s p r o fe ss io n a ls ) fo re ig n ex p erts is b e in g in c re a sin g ly q u es tio n ed in m any d e v e lo p in g countries.

W hen the priorities had been d eterm in ed and the is su e s r e so lv e d the d iscu ss io n w ou ld then have to fo cu s on h o w best Ireland sh ou ld organ ize and im p lem en t support for education in A frica . Is a sp ec ia list educational aid a gen cy n eeded? H o w sh ould it be structured and supported? F o llo w in g the d iscu ss io n , a d ocu m en t sh ould be produced w h ich w o u ld sp ell out the pu rp oses, strateg ies, and fin an cin g o f Irish aid to education over the next decade.

APPENDIX 1

E ducation and training projects funded by the B ilateral A id Fund in the period 1 9 8 1 -1 9 9 0 (total expenditure in period in m illio n s o f Irish pou nd s (1991 p ices)).

TrainingC entre for A cco u n tin g S tu d ies, L eso th o (3 .7 )M ik um i Trade S c h o o l, T anzania (2 .5 4 )A n aesth etist training, K ilim anjaro Christian M ed ica l C entre, T anzania (0 .2 7 )Insititue o f P ublic A d m in istration , Z am bia (1 .4 )

EducationT ech n ica l E ducation support/support for M in istry o f E ducation ,

L eso th o (3 .2 )M ed ica l Laboratory tech n ician s training program m e/N ational H ealth

IRELAND S RESPONSE TO AFRICA’S EDUCATIONAL NEEDS 23

T raining C entre, L eso th o (2 .2 )Secondary sc h o o ls support, L eso th o (0 .4 2 )K hartoum P o ly tech n ic Library, Sudan (0 .3 5 )National Institute o f Anim al Production, University o f Khartoum, Sudan (0.29) Centre for Continuing Education, Sokoine University o f Agriculture, Tanzania (0.49)

U n iversity o f Dar e s Salaam , T anzania (1 .3 )T ech n o lo g ica l E ducation Institutes, Z am bia (2 .9 )U n iversity o f Z am bia ( 1.0)H otel and C atering sch o o l, B u la w a y o P o ly tech n ic , Z im b ab w e (0 .3 4 )

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Documents

IRELAND’S RESPONSE TO AFRICA’S EDUCATIONAL NEEDS · at primary level by 4.5. Problems of Education Access. Despite these positive achievements, many problems remain. The major